Category:Denebola System

The Denebola system is a small, colonized system consisting of two gas giants, a desert planet, and an asteroid belt. The system is viewed as a symbol of human tenacity, as geomagnetic storms and erratic solar winds cause unreliable communications and unpredictable blackouts in colonies and on interstellar transport lanes.

The system star, Denebola, is ejecting matter in an uncharacteristic manner that puzzles researchers. The system was originally chosen for exploration and colonization due to distance analysis, which found that Denebola and Sol were remarkably similar in age and composition. The startling frequency of coronal mass ejections, seemingly random sunspot activity, and unpredictable shifts in solar wind pressure have no explanation supported by expert consensus. A majority of research proposals have been denied due to expense and inability to develop applicable hypotheses. Ideas vary from failed extraterrestrial attempts to harvest the energy of Denebola to undetectable background magnetism to premature planetary nebula development. The shedding of coronal material has shrunk Denebola by nearly 8% since its original discovery in 2114. The ejected material has begun to coalesce into gaseous clouds surrounding the star, giving it a distinctive green tint. Denebola's rampant behavior causes frequent blackouts in the surrounding colonies and transport lanes, prompting the Federation to consider rerouting commercial shipping lanes around the system - a prospect vehemently oppossed by several mining corporations and local residents.

Denebola A is an inhospitable desertified planet with temperatures ranging between 600K and 1100K. Denebola A's orbit is elongated and erratic, passing dangerously close to the system star and slingshotting back out to the inner edge of the habitable zone. This sharp orbit, combined with a short orbital period, causes the planet's atmosphere to rapidly warm and cool, creating a compression effect that makes drone exploration feasible only in very specific conditions. The planet has a small ring surrounding it, presumed to be the remnants of a moon pulverized by gravitational imbalance. Denebola A's magnetosphere has been weakend by millenia of harsh planetary conditions, creating a trail of atmospheric material and unexplained radioactive elements that soon integrate into the planet's ring. Many historians and archaeologists believe that Denebola A may have been home to an alien race long in the past, with some prestigious scientists attributing Denebola's hyperactivity as the result of failed technological experimentation.

Denebola B is a small gas giant orbiting Denebola at a level just below the habitation zone. Denebola B has no natural moons, and is instead surrounded in a disorganized net of captured asteroids. The planet's satellites are very rich in Helium-3, making them prime targets for mining entrepeneuers unwilling to risk mining in the unstable asteroid field. Several atmospherically-sealed mining colonies have been established on these satellites.

The Denebola asteroid field is, like most of the system, erratic and unstable. While rich in Helium-3 and other valuable elements, no mining expeditions have been attempted after the catastrophe of Herrta Industries' Den-/01A mining colony.

Denebola C is the most habitable of the three planets, and is mostly known for its colonized terran moon New Andorra. Some activists wish to name Denebola C "New Pyrenee," though . The other two colonies on the moons of Denebola C include Vignemale, a very dry desert moon known for planet-wide dust-storms, and Monte Perdido, an military base built into the core of a small moon pock-marked by craters. The planet is very magnetically active, causing problems with passing ships. This, combined with the solar storms of Denebola, causes the Denebola system to be considered one of the most dangerous colonized systems to travel through.

Astrography

• Denebola (Sun) - White main sequence star
• Denebola A - Hot Desert
• Denebola asteroid field
• Denebola B - Very Warm Gas Giant
  • Den-B338 - Very Warm Asteroid (Mining Colony)
  • Den-B4029 - Very Warm Asteroid (Mining Colony)
  • Den-B734 - Very Warm Asteroid (Mining Colony)
  • 17x Mining Colonies, 2000+x Asteroids
• Denebola C - Warm Gas Giant
  • New Andorra - Warm Terra with Life
  • Aneto - Warm Selena
  • Posets - Warm Selena
  • Vignemale - Warm Desert with Life
  • Monte Perdido - Comfort Selena with Life
  • Valier - Comfort Selena
  • Soum de Ramond - Cold Selena
• Dionysus